A unique woman, a great artist, but also a much loved Milanese woman and for everyone simply «Ornella». His city is struggling to let go of Vanoni – who died Friday evening at the age of 91 of a heart attack – and wants to say goodbye to him once again, as you would with a best friend, whom you already know you will miss and whose passing has shocked you in a way you really didn’t expect, not now, not ever. So, as happened to designer Giorgio Armani more than a month ago, Milan yesterday wanted to personally address the pain that, in one breath, is all that remains of the person you thought was immortal. And more than 5 thousand people did not hesitate to queue patiently in the center, from 10 am to 2 pm, squeezed between Piazza Cordusio and Castello Sforzesco, one after another along the very busy Via Dante, under the hot sun and despite the bitter cold, to say goodbye to Ornella Vanoni.
The chapel of rest, inside “his” Piccolo Teatro Grassi, on via Rovello, was erected quickly and with great care, perhaps as desired by the singer who, the epitome of Milanese practicality, was not one for ceremonies. After the coffin arrived, greeted with thunderous applause, the light wooden casket – surrounded by Municipal and Region banners and yellow gerbera baskets, as well as a large bouquet of roses and white anthuriums, a tribute to the “Little Theater of Europe” – was unceremoniously placed on the carpet in front of the theater stage. It is impossible not to recall with a smile that the singer himself, a few months ago, thought about his funeral when he was a guest on the program hosted by Fabio Fazio “Che Tempo che fa”, stating that he wanted a coffin that would cost “little because it would still be burned”, as he stated with the naturalness of someone who has lived many lives and is not afraid of the last. People passed in front of the coffin, paused, laid flowers, read prayers and listened to the tune of one of Vanoni’s masterpieces, “Tomorrow is another day, we’ll see”; many could not hold back tears when the song’s verse reads “and there is nothing sadder, on days like these, than remembering happiness”. The funeral home will also remain open this morning, the city’s day of mourning, from 10 am to 1 pm, then at 3 pm there will be a funeral in the church of San Marco, in the neighborhood where the great artist lived for most of his life, Brera.
Among the first VIP guests to arrive via Rovello yesterday morning was singer Fiorella Mannoia. Yang, moved, called Vanoni “a reference point for all of us” because, he added, “Ornella is a symbol of freedom, of irreverence. She is a cultured, graceful woman, she is a free woman and an extraordinary singer.” Therefore, a large part of the world of art and music wanted to pay tribute to the memory of the singer: Lella Costa, Cristiano Malgioglio, Gabriele Salvatores, Ambra Angiolini, Ivana Spagna, Arisa, Francesco Gabbani, Madame, Simona Ventura, Emma Marrone and of course Fabio Fazio.
“Milan has lost nothing of it because thanks to Ornella and the way he interpreted life, this city will always maintain the artistic status that Ornella gave us,” said Paolo Jannacci as he left the funeral home.
«For me Ornella represents the magnitude of what she represented for the whole world» said trumpeter Paolo Fresu who, at the artist’s request, will play at her funeral today.
Lifetime senator Liliana Segre stopped by the funeral home to speak at length with the artist’s son Cristiano Ardenzi. Born of Vanoni’s only marriage to Lucio Ardenzi, the 63-year-old wrote in an obituary published yesterday in Corriere della Sera: «After a life full of love for music and loved ones, Ornella Vanoni leaves us». An important thought, but one that truly says everything about her incomparable mother.
